This volume contains the proceeding of the National Research Symposium on Geometric Analysis and Applications held at the Centre for Mathematics and its Applications, Australian National University, Canberra, from June 26-30, 2000. The Symposium celebrated the many significant contributions of Professor Derek W.

Part of a two-volume set, this book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third Iberian Conference on Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis, IbPRIA 2007, held in Girona, Spain in June 2007. It covers pattern recognition, human language technology, special architectures and industrial applications, motion analysis, image analysis, biomedical applications, shape and texture analysis, 3D, and image coding and processing.

Rationality problems link algebra to geometry, and the difficulties involved depend on the transcendence degree of $K$ over $k$, or geometrically, on the dimension of the variety. A major success in 19th century algebraic geometry was a complete solution of the rationality problem in dimensions one and two over algebraically closed ground fields of characteristic zero. Such advances has led to many interdisciplinary applications to algebraic geometry. This comprehensive book consists of surveys of research papers by leading specialists in the field and gives indications for future research in rationality problems. Topics discussed include the rationality of quotient spaces, cohomological invariants of quasi-simple Lie type groups, rationality of the moduli space of curves, and rational points on algebraic varieties. This volume is intended for researchers, mathematicians, and graduate students interested in algebraic geometry, and specifically in rationality problems. Contributors: F. Bogomolov; T. Petrov; Y. Tschinkel; Ch. Böhning; G. Catanese; I. Cheltsov; J. Park; N. Hoffmann; S. J. Hu; M. C. Kang; L. Katzarkov; Y. Prokhorov; A. Pukhlikov

Few themes have been as central to sociology as 'class' and yet class remains a perpetually contested idea. Sociologists disagree not only on how best to define the concept of class but on its general role in social theory and indeed on its continued relevance to the sociological analysis of contemporary society. Some people believe that classes have largely dissolved in contemporary societies; others believe class remains one of the fundamental forms of social inequality and social power. Some see class as a narrow economic phenomenon whilst others adopt an expansive conception that includes cultural dimensions as well as economic conditions. This 2005 book explores the theoretical foundations of six major perspectives of class with each chapter written by an expert in the field. It concludes with a conceptual map of these alternative approaches by posing the question: 'If class is the answer, what is the question?'